Trust Me
by SlytherinGurrl
Summary: Sara planned on having a nice dinner with Neal, but when she shows up at his apartment, she takes control of the unexpected situation at hand.


**This was written for dmk0064/winterstar over at Round Three of WCPairings over at LJ. This is a complete AU after Season 3 and disregards anything that might have happened in Season 4. **

**Just a heads up: they don't have sex in the story, even though that's what the summary sounds like. This is rated PG due to the f-word said once. And, this was supposed to be filled with angst and sad, but it didn't turn out that way.**

* * *

Sara Ellis walked into the coffee shop, squeezing past the few people who were mingling around the doorway. She was on a tight schedule, as she had scheduled a nine o'clock meeting with a potential client and it was already 8:25. "I knew I should have woken up earlier," she muttered to herself as she stood in line.

After picking up her Mocha Frappuccino, she pushed her way out of the door. After living in London for two years and living in New York for longer, she was used to heavy traffic, but it never failed to annoy her, especially when she was running late.

With five minutes before her meeting, Sara rushed into the building. As she rode up in the elevator, she couldn't help but worry that she was forgetting something. _Whatever it is, I'll remember soon enough,_ she thought, pushing the worry to the back of her mind.

* * *

Sara stepped out of her office, and stopped in front of her PA's desk. Karen Nelson was a lifesaver. After being her PA for 5 years, Karen had taken charge of managing Sara's life. If it hadn't been for her, Sara would be falling apart. They were even good friends now.

"Hey, Sara," Karen said. "How can I help you?"

Sara shrugged. "Can you look and see if I have anything planned for the rest of the day?"

"You don't have anything work related going on," Karen informed as she glanced at the calendar that had all of Sara's appointments on it. "But, Mr. Caffrey did ask me to remind you that you are having dinner with him tonight."

Sara smiled and shook her head. "I completely forgot. What would I do without you?"

"I'm sure you'd be alright," replied the other women modestly.

_Actually, I may not even survive one work day without her,_ Sara thought as she bid good-bye to her assistant and walked into the elevator that would take her back to the bustling streets of New York.

* * *

Sara stood on the side of the road, and waved down a cab.

As she got into the car, the cabbie looked over at her. "Where to?"

"351 Riverside Drive, near West 107th Street."

When she arrived at June's mansion, she paid the cabbie, and hurried into the stately home. She was already a bit late due to the traffic, and if there was one thing she hated, it was not arriving on time.

June waved, and greeted her as Sara walked up the stairs to Neal's apartment.

She rapped on the door, and was surprised when she didn't get a response from the other side of the door.

"Neal," she called nervously, "are you there?"

She heard a lot of shuffling, and the door opened. She saw Neal and gasped. "What happened to you?"

"Sick," he moaned unhappily. "Come in." He opened the door wider and stepped out of the way.

"Awww, poor baby," she said, giggling slightly. "What, you have a cold?"

"Yeah, I'm just recovering from a slight bout of a strong cold."

She wrinkled her brows, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Neal shrugged. "I didn't want to worry you. You're so busy with work, and I can fend for myself."

Sara frowned when she heard Neal's comment. She knew that she wasn't the most attentive person, but she did care about others and their health, especially people that she was dating.

"Besides," Neal continued. "It's really just a post nasal drip now."

"But you should have told me."

He shook his head. "It was a cold. I hardly ever get sick, so I mope around when I do. It's not a big deal."

"Alright," Sara said, shrugging her shoulders and holding up her hands in defeat.

As they both sat down at the table, Neal gestured towards the bottle of wine. "I'm apparently not supposed to drink, but do you want some?"

She shook her head. "No thanks. I'll just stick with some water."

"Great", he replied, standing up to get her a glass. He groaned as he stood up, stretching his arms above his head.

"Are you really okay?" Sara pried. "If you had the common cold, you wouldn't look like this." She gestured up and down his body, her face set into a grimace. "And," she continued, "you wouldn't be home if you had a cold. Let me take care of you."

Neal smiled, leaning against the counter. "You act like a mother hen sometimes. If you feel the need to tuck me into bed with a warm bowl of soup, feel free to do so."

* * *

"In you go," said Sara, lifting up the covers of Neal's bed. "You need to relax. If you really want to fight this off, you may want to eat some warm soup, take some NyQuil, and rest for a few days."

Neal slipped under the covers, sighing. _I think this is getting a bit out of hand,_ he thought to himself.

Sara frowned when she heard Neal's slightly frustrated sigh. She knew that he had a tendency to shut her out of things, and over the last year of being in a relationship, he had withheld a lot of things from her. Because of that, she couldn't help but feel a bit insecure about Neal's commitment to her. She wasn't expecting him to change his personality, but she did hope that when he finally opens up to her, she will feel safer in their relationship.

"What's with the face?" asked Neal, noticing his girlfriend's knitted brows.

Sara looked at him with a serious face. "I'm sorry for bringing this up now, but why are you always withholding things from me? Do you still not trust me?"

"No, of course not!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. He didn't mean to worry her, but he wasn't used to people concerned about him. Throughout his adulthood, he had been forced to be independent, and the thought of people caring for him scared him a little. He did trust her, but sometimes he needed to keep information to himself. Even though he had been out of the con business for a few years, he still felt that people may try to turn against him.

"Are you sure, Neal?" Sara asked again. "You're telling me you trust me, and you couldn't tell me that you had a fucking cold?"

"Why are you flipping out about this," Neal burst out. "It was a cold. Stop making such a big deal about it."

"I can't help but worry about you," she said sadly, perching herself on the end of his bed. "I love you, I really do, but sometimes you need to let me in. It doesn't bother me that you didn't tell me about the cold. Honestly, I probably wouldn't tell you if I had a cold. But, what if something big happens later on in life and you don't tell me? I need you to really trust me, or else this relationship will never work out."

Neal reached out and took Sara's hands in his. "I'm really sorry that I'm making you worry. I do care about your opinion and I trust you even if I may not act like I do all the time. "

"It's okay," said Sara, shrugging. "I'm glad that we talked about it. But, now you need your rest." She kneeled next to his head, and felt his forehead. "I think you're feeling a bit warm. Take a nap while I make some soup."

Neal looked at the retreating back of his girlfriend and smiled as she poked around in the kitchenette, looking for the things to make soup. They may have had a heart-to-heart talk two minutes ago, but Sara was still her overbearing self. But, he had to admit that he liked her that way. She just wouldn't be Sara if she wasn't a bit bossy at times.


End file.
